Disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been described as a fighter, as many believe he will combat his lifetime ban from the NBA and $2.5 million fine handed down from commissioner Adam Silver.

But Sterling already has a fight on his hands — one he's been engaged in for some time now. Sterling is battling cancer and has actually survived longer than many around him expected, sources told the New York Post on Thursday.

“They thought he would die two years ago,” a source told the Post speaking of Sterling. “People have been predicting his imminent demise. I’m sure he has the best . . . drugs money can buy.

ESPN's sources confirmed the Post's report of Sterling's condition. The date of his initial diagnosis is unclear.

This isn't the first case of a medical concern meshing with a controversial situation in sports. In an unrelated case, legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died after a battle with lung cancer just months after he was fired over his handling of child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky several years prior.

Specifically, a source told the Post that Sterling has prostate cancer.

The 10-member NBA Advisory/Finance Committee unanimously agreed to move forward in terminating Sterling's Clippers ownership Thursday. Now, the league will need the support of three-fourths of the league's owners in a vote to oust him.

So what has Sterling been up to throughout the madness of the week? According to the Post's sources, he's been hanging out in a penthouse on the top floor of a Beverly Hills office building that he owns, apparently paranoid about bugs and recording devices everywhere he goes — with good reason.

The sources also said he's been calling friends and saying "Tell me I’m not a racist." The friends reportedly won't do that — also in fear of bugs and recording devices.

This is just the latest twist to a fiasco in which the end is not in sight. For the Clippers, it may never end.